VettaFi will be hosting an Alternatives Symposium tomorrow, November 28. We are covering a range of alternative topics. These include go-anywhere strategies like long/short and managed futures, collateralized loan obligations, private equity, and real estate.
We will also dive deep into commodities and cryptocurrency for two sessions each. For advisors in attendance, three hours of continuing education is available. I wanted to give you some insight into what you’re looking for beyond this preview.
A Focus on Commodities
Tom Lydon will kick off the virtual event at 11 a.m. ET talking about broad commodity strategies. He will be joined by John Love, president and CEO of USCF Investments, and Ed Egilinsky, managing director and head of sales/distribution & alternatives at Direxion. They will look at the benefits of having commodities in a traditional stock-and-bond-based portfolio and the outlook for 2024. Funds likely to be discussed include the Direxion Auspice Broad Commodity Strategy ETF (COM) and the USCF SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity Strategy No K-1 Fund (SDCI).
COM and SDCI expose agriculture, energy, and metals-based commodities using futures. However, some advisors and end clients prefer to focus on one commodity sector.
At 12:25 p.m. ET, during the VettaFi Symposium, Tom will focus on gold, silver, and agricultural commodities. Robert Minter, director of ETF strategy at ABRDN, and Jake Hanley, senior portfolio specialist at Teucrium, will join Tom. I expect them to discuss the outlook for ETFs like the abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF (SGOL) and the Teucrium AiLA Long-Short Agriculture Strategy ETF (OAIA).
Cryptocurrency Is a Hot Topic
For many advisors, cryptocurrencies are a hot topic. A spot bitcoin ETF will likely be available in the coming months from multiple managers. At 11:20 a.m. tomorrow, I will talk about cryptocurrencies with two of the brightest on the topic for the virtual event. Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, and Dave LaValle, global head of ETFs at Grayscale, will join me.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) was up 280% thus far in 2023. However, GBTC is not an ETF, as there are currently no spot bitcoin ETFs approved for trading in the U.S. What is trading are futures-based cryptocurrencies like the Bitwise Bitcoin Strategy Optimum Roll ETF (BITC) and the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO). During the discussion, I plan to discuss the potential benefits for investors and advisors of a spot bitcoin ETF and the outlook for bitcoin heading into 2024.
This topic is so timely that I will also be joined at 1:30 p.m. by Simeon Hyman, global investment strategist at ProShares, and Paul Cappelli, head of liquid passive strategies at Galaxy Asset Management. We will be talking about the future of cryptocurrencies. We hope to see you tomorrow. Registration remains open.